2005 Plumpjack Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Estate

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Napa Valley 2005

The 2005 vintage in Napa was one of the best of the decade, with balanced, lovely wines with plenty of depth, richness, and concentration, all balanced by lovely fresh acidity and detail. Classic, structured, and deep, they should age well for decades.

A wet winter was followed in March by a dry, mild spell, then a wet, rainy period that delayed bloom and fruit set. Rains continued into April, May, and even into June. Some parts of Napa Valley had more than 15 inches of rain after bud break, creating problems for growers. Vineyard management costs skyrocketed as the moisture spurred weed growth, and powdery mildew was a big problem.

Summer was moderate, without any real extremes of heat. The cool temperatures and foggy mornings kept ripening moving slowly, and there was some concern with sugar levels and overall ripeness as the harvest began to approach. September arrived with beautiful, warm, sunny days — and an Indian summer allowed winemakers to wait as sugar accumulated at an even pace, while keeping the grapes balanced with good acidity. It was a very late vintage and a very large crop as well, beating out the previous record set in 1997. Many didn’t finish picking until late October and even into November, but the long hang-time was beneficial and the weather held for the most part.

The resulting wines are seamless, elegant yet structured and deep, with lovely well-knit fruit and tannins. They may not have the power and ripe, plush notes of some of the other top vintages of the decade — rather, they will be known for their beautiful balance and focus. The best should age gracefully for decades to come.

Key Dates

May

Additional 5 inches of rain falls

August

Harvest for sparkling wine began on schedule

September

Weather was mild throughout the month, with no heat spikes of any consequence

October

Harvest for still wine didn’t begin in earnest until October, because of mild September weather. The main Cabernet Sauvignon harvest began in the middle of October and continued until the middle of November

March

A few inches over the average amount of rain

About Plumpjack Winery

Producer Facts

Winery Name

Plumpjack Winery

Web Site

http://www.plumpjackwinery.com/

Ownership/Management

Plumpjack group - Odette and Plumpjack

Founded in 1995 by Gavin Newsom and Gordon Getty, PlumpJack Winery is part of the burgeoning PlumpJack Group, which began with a wine shop in San Francisco and now includes CADE and Odette wineries, The Carneros Inn and FARM Restaurant, PlumpJack Sport clothing stores, and more. The name itself is an homage to the famous character in Shakespeare’s “Henry IV,” Sir John “PlumpJack” Falstaff, who embodies the approachable, inviting spirit of the wines.

The rustic estate lies in the heart of Oakville, near the intersection of Oakville Cross Road and the Silverado Trail. This area was created eons ago by landslides that swept down from the Vaca Mountains, leaving an indelible mark on the landscape. The vineyard and winery both date to the 1800s, when the valley floor property was first planted by early California winemakers. Most recently the site belonged to James and Anne McWilliams who made wine under the Villa Mt. Eden label.

The 42-acre vineyard at PlumpJack sits on a mix of three soils. On its east side, there is deep, gravelly, iron-rich volcanic soil, straight from the mountains; in the center of the property and to the west, a mixture of gravelly, sedimentary seafloor soils; furthest west, on the border of the property, towards the Napa River, are loamy, more clay-rich soils. Each type is dramatically different, yielding equally different components in the wines. The eastern soils produce concentrated black/blue fruit notes, while those to the west show more red fruit — cherry and raspberry — with softer tannins and hints of sage, mint, and herbs.

About Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon Facts

Flavor Profile

Full, tannic wines with notes of blackcurrant and cassis

Food Pairings

Grilled red meats, stews, hard or rich cheeses

Cabernet Sauvignon has been the flagship red grape of the California wine industry for decades, and its popularity shows no sign of abating. Napa Valley is the heart of Cabernet Sauvignon production and is clearly an ideal region for creating world-class wines. If any Cabernet-based wine is capable of giving Bordeaux a run for its money, it's Napa Valley's examples. However, due to the extremely high cost of purchasing and developing vineyards in California, and the cachet of Napa Valley on the label, this has largely become a category for the well-heeled wine lover.

At their best, Napa Valley's Cabernets are characterized by fruit notes of cassis, black cherry, and licorice and sweet oak notes of chocolate, mocha, cedar, and tar. Today, most of the best wines are aged entirely or almost completely in French oak barrels, which tend to produce somewhat more refined wines than do most American barrels. (These latter barrels often introduce exotic and pungent suggestions of scotch, bourbon, tar, coconut, and dill.) But the use of expensive French oak is no guarantee of a good bottle: too many wines today, due to high crop levels or insufficiently ripe fruit, do not have the stuffing to support their oakiness and can quickly be dominated or even dried out by their wood component. The best California Cabernets mellow and soften with five to ten years of bottle aging, developing more complex and less fruit-dominated notes of tobacco, leather, and earth, with mellower wood tones. Compared to the top Bordeaux, however, many California Cabernet Sauvignons merely endure in bottle rather than truly become more interesting. There are no shortage of quality producers, even if these wines are rarely values. And it remains to be seen if today's outsized showstoppers, made from superripe grapes and undeniably impressive on release, will reward extended bottle aging or will turn out to have been best suited for drinking in their youth.

Many wines labeled Cabernet Sauvignon contain small percentages of other so-called Bordeaux varieties -- chiefly Merlot and Cabernet Franc but also Petit Verdot and even Malbec (varietally labeled wines in California must contain at least 75% of the variety named).

Cabernet Sauvignon also flourishes in Washington State, Australia and even Chile. In Washington, prices have been creeping up at the high end, with some producers aiming to compete with cult wines from the Napa Valley. Consider Chateau Ste. Michelle and Woodward Canyon. In Australia, look to the Coonawarra and Margaret River regions. Chile can reveal excellent bargains to those who know where to look: Montes makes a strong range of quality bottlings, as does Casa Lapostolle.

As Cabernet Sauvignon is bold and assertive on the palate, it pairs best with foods like grilled red meats. Taken together, the proteins and fats in the food neutralize some of the stronger tannic qualities of the wine, leading to a harmonic combination that enhances both partners.